No. 1 Oklahoma Looking to Bounce Back Against No. 8 Arkansas

NORMAN — Oklahoma has a chance to shelve its Bedlam frustration by notching top 10 wins at Love’s Field.

The No. 1 Sooners won last weekend’s series against No. 5 Texas, but OU dropped Sunday’s series finale against the Longhorns before falling to No. 21 Oklahoma State 6-4 on Wednesday at Devon Park.

Oklahoma played from behind, both on the scoreboard and in actual at-bats, too often for Patty Gasso’s liking — a trend that she hopes will turn around against No. 8 Arkansas.

“I felt like we were 1-2, 2-2 counts offensively all night long,” Gasso said on Wednesday.

“And on the other side, I felt like we were always coming from behind, like 2-0 trying to go 2-1, 3-1, it was rough at times. I think we need to be more aggressive pounding the zone, really trying to throw like early strikes and hit good locations.”

How to Watch No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Arkansas

Game 1: Friday, 5:30 p.m. at Love's Field, Broadcast TBD, 107.7 FM The Franchise
Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m. at Love's Field, SEC Network+, 1560 AM The Franchise 2
Game 3: Sunday, 1 p.m. at Love's Field, SEC Network+, 107.7 FM The Franchise

OU ace Audrey Lowry didn’t pitch on Wednesday, but she’ll have to be on top of her game, along with the rest of the Sooners’ pitching staff, against the Razorback offense.

Under the guidance of assistant coach DJ Gasso, the son of Patty Gasso and brother of OU associate head coach and hitting coach JT Gasso, Arkansas (35-6, 10-5 SEC) is batting .365 with 63 home runs.

The Razorbacks are adjusting to life without Bri Ellis, but they still have a trio of hitters in Tianna Bell, Dakota Kennedy and Ella McDowell who have all hammered double-digit home runs.

In the circle, Lowry leads the staff with a 2.10 ERA, and while the Sooners (40-5, 13-2) will need to continue to pair pitching and defense throughout the weekend, there are improvements to be made on offense.

“We need to compete a little bit earlier in the game,” senior outfielder Abby Dayton said on Wednesday. “Not just the team, but me personally. … We need to make sure we start earlier in the game.”

Things aren’t slowing down for the Sooners, either.

Oklahoma’s remaining SEC series are in Norman against No. 15 Georgia, then OU will close its regular season slate with a road trip to No. 12 Texas A&M.

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The Sooners currently hold a one-game lead over No. 2 Alabama in the SEC standings, but a bounce-back weekend against Arkansas could push Oklahoma one step closer to defending its SEC Regular Season Championship.

“Two losses in a row is not common for us. It’s very uncomfortable, to be honest,” Gasso said. “… That was a good experience for this team. We’re going to walk away not with our tail between our legs, we’re going to walk away taking everything that we need to do and do it better.”

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